The Konduga massacre took place in

Konduga Konduga is a community in Borno State, Nigeria and the center of a Local Government Area of the same name about 25 km to the southeast of Maiduguri, situated on the north bank of the Ngadda River. The population of the Konduga Local Governmen ...

Borno State Borno State is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Yobe to the west, Gombe to the southwest, and Adamawa to the south while its eastern border forms part of the national border with Cameroon, its northern border ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

on 11 February 2014. The

massacre A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...

was conducted by

Boko Haram Boko Haram, officially known as ''Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād'' ( ar, جماعة أهل السنة للدعوة والجهاد, lit=Group of the People of Sunnah for Dawah and Jihad), is an Islamic terrorist organization ...

Islamists against

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

villagers. At least 62 people were killed.

Massacre

The massacre occurred on 11 February 2014 in Konduga, Borno State, northeastern Nigeria. The village where the attack occurred was predominantly Christian. Dressed in military gear, dozens of attackers raided the village. Some of their victims were shot; others had their throats slit. By the end of February 15, 2014, 121 people had been killed. The militants reportedly yelled ''

Allahu Akbar Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", an ...

'' while attacking the village, which is also a phrase used by other Islamist groups. The militants then continued to destroy homes and businesses in the town.

Subsequent events

On 15 February 2014, Boko Haram launched a similar style

attack Attack may refer to: Warfare and combat * Offensive (military) * Charge (warfare) * Attack (fencing) * Strike (attack) * Attack (computing) * Attack aircraft Books and publishing * ''The Attack'' (novel), a book * '' Attack No. 1'', comic an ...

Izghe Izghe is a village in Gwoza Local Government Area, Borno State, Nigeria. An massacre by Boko Haram Boko Haram, officially known as ''Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād'' ( ar, جماعة أهل السنة للدعوة والج ...

, Borno. Over 121 people were killed in the attack. Thousands of villagers fled the town for the border with

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

in order to escape the violence. Survivors reported gunmen indiscriminately shooting everyone in their path, burned down the churches, and looted all the food. Boko Haram militants then proceeded to attack the

Nigerian Army The Nigerian Army (NA) is the land force of the Nigerian Armed Forces. It is governed by the Nigerian Army Council (NAC). The Chief of Army Staff is the highest ranking military officer of the Nigerian Army. History Formation The Nigerian ...

, killing 9 soldiers and subsequently forcing the army to retreat from the area. The army would then proceed to launch large scale air and land raids on Boko Haram, forcing the militants to hide out in the forested areas. On 6 May 2014, around 200 people were killed when

insurgent An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric warfare, asymmetric na ...

s, dressed in military uniforms, attacked

Gamboru Gamboru (or Gamburu) is a market town in Borno State, northeast Nigeria, near the Cameroon border. It is the administrative centre of Ngala local government area. A 2013 IRIN report indicated that pharmacies in Gamboru Ngala were subject to at ...

, a town in the state of Borno at the Nigeria-Cameroon border. The attackers stormed into the town when some of the residents were fast asleep and set ablaze houses while shooting at residents who tried to escape from the fire.

Boko Haram

Boko Haram is an

jihadist Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Wes ...

terrorist group in Nigeria that is demanding to impose

sharia law Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the Five Pillars of Islam, religious precepts of Islam and is based on the Islamic holy books, sacred scriptures o ...

upon the entire country. Founded by Mohammed Yousuf, the group commonly bombs

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

buildings and churches in its militant attacks. The group is most active in the former territory of the

Bornu Empire Bornu may refer to: * Bornu Empire Bornu may refer to: * Bornu Empire, a historical state of West Africa * Borno State Borno State is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Yobe to the west, Gombe to the southwest ...

, now Borno State in northeastern Nigeria. Boko Haram launched its first terror attack in 2009, and have since been engaged in a

low-intensity conflict A low-intensity conflict (LIC) is a military conflict, usually localised, between two or more state or non-state groups which is below the intensity of conventional war. It involves the state's use of military forces applied selectively and with ...

against the Nigerian government, armed forces and inhabitants. Boko Haram is particularly vicious against Nigerian Christians, who they see as

infidel An infidel (literally "unfaithful") is a person accused of disbelief in the central tenets of one's own religion, such as members of another religion, or the irreligious. Infidel is an ecclesiastical term in Christianity around which the Church ...

s living in their proposed Islamist state. BH had carried out massacres in villages prior to the Konduga massacre. The violence became so widespread that on 14 May 2013,

Nigerian President The president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is the head of state and head of government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the Nigeri ...

Goodluck Jonathan Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (born 20 November 1957)Lawson Heyford, ''The Source'' (Lagos), 11 December 2006. is a Nigerian politician who served as the President of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. He lost the 2015 presidential election to fo ...

declared a

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...

in northern Nigeria and mobilized the army to battle the militants. Other actions by Boko Haram include a

mass shooting There is a lack of consensus on how to define a mass shooting. Most terms define a minimum of three or four victims of gun violence (not including the shooter or in an inner city) in a short period of time, although an Australian study from 200 ...

in 2013, a massacre in January 2014, battles in 2014 and 2015, as well as suicide bombings in 2018 and 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Konduga massacre 2014 murders in Nigeria 2010s in Borno State 2014 mass shootings in Africa 2010s massacres in Nigeria Attacks on buildings and structures in 2014 Attacks on buildings and structures in Nigeria Massacres perpetrated by Boko Haram February 2014 crimes in Africa February 2014 events in Nigeria Mass murder in 2014 Islamic terrorist incidents in 2014 February 2014 massacre Mass murder in Borno State Massacres in 2014 Massacres of Christians Mass shootings in Nigeria Terrorist incidents in Borno State Terrorist incidents in Nigeria in 2014 Attacks in Nigeria in 2014